Calendar: Discussed the date in English and Spanish. Cooper put the number on the calendar, discussed the pattern and found the day of the week in Spanish. We reviewed our numbers, Spanish, Sign Language and Sight words.

Fun Facts/Brainstorming: Reviewed what the kids learned about Observatories. Discussed: What do you know about the season of spring? What changes in the spring time where you live? Fun facts: Spring is one for the four seasons. Spring is a symbol of rebirth. Spring begins on March 21 or 22. The first day of spring is called the Vernal Equinox in Latin meaning Vernal meaning Spring and Equinox meaning equal days. On the first day of spring the sunrise and sunset are 12 hours apart. During the spring the days will get longer and warmer.

Creative Development: Discussed: What do you do when you first wake up? Share that some animals hibernate (which is like sleeping) through the winter and wake up when spring brings warmer weather. We went through the animal cards and discussed. Which ones do they recognize? What information do they share about them? I had the children go to sleep like they were hibernating for the winter. I then called out an animal from the animal cards and they had to wake up and pretend to be that animal. We did this for each animal. They sounded so cute snoring on the floor.

Mathematics and Reasoning: Discussed: What kinds of bugs do you see outside? Share that when the weather gets warmer many bugs begin to wake up, too. We went outside for a walk to find all the things happening that were Spring related. What creatures can be seen? What ones do the children recognize? Looked at the art that they will be making in afternoon centers painting finger bugs.

Language and Literacy: Discussed: What words make you think of spring? We looked through the letter cards and discussed the sound the letter made. We then thought of a Spring word for that begins with that letter.

Mathematics and Reasoning: Discussed: How do you think spring smells? We smelled the fresh air when we were on our outdoor walk finding things related to spring. Discussed what we smelled.

Afternoon Centers:Center 1- Finger Bugs-the children dipped their fingers into paint and then made prints on the page. They turned those prints into bugs or flowers for spring. Center 2- The children will draw a picture of what they found on their walks that represents Spring.

Calendar: Discussed the date in English and Spanish. Cooper is the new calendar and meteorologist for this week! He put the numbers on the calendar, discussed the pattern and found the day of the week in Spanish. Cooper helped us review our numbers, sight words, Spanish and Sign language.

Fun Facts/Brainstorming: Reviewed what the kids learned about Rocket ships. The children told me what they know about an Observatory. Discussed: Where do you go to see the stars? Explained that astronomers can see things far away in outer space by using telescopes and other instruments. These tools are often kept in a building called an observatory. Fun facts: One of the oldest working observatories is London’s Royal Greenwich Observatory, founded in 1675. The highest observatory on the Earth is 4300 miles above sea level, at Denver, Colorado. The lowest observatory is 1.7 km below sea level, in Homestake, Dakota. The Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research center located in north San Diego County, California. It holds a professional set of telescopes used by the California Institute of Technology, but the observatory is also open to the public almost every day of the year.

Mathematics and Reasoning: Discussed: What do the stars and planets look like from Earth? We had a piece of paper that we rolled and looked through it to find things in the room. The children then rolled the Brain Box one at a time and had to look through the tube “telescope” to see what it landed on. They discussed the letter, number, color or shape that it landed on and found that in the room. Brain box: Ss, Rr, Zz, 7 , Star, Yellow

Mathematics and Reasoning: Discussed: Why do you think the Moon sometimes looks like a big circle and other times looks like a crescent? Shine a flashlight from one end of the room. Put a ball on the floor and shined the flashlight on it as we walked around it discussing the shadows that we saw. Explained that it takes 29 days (almost a month) for the Moon to travel around the Earth. We looked at the Moon Phase sheet and discussed the different phases of the moon.

Language and Literacy: Discussed: What would you like to see through a telescope? Invited children to explore the sky using binoculars or a paper roll. Remind them never to look directly at the sun. Reviewed the Spanish words and number that the children learned this month.

Science: Discussed: What kind of planet would you like to discover? Asked the following questions to each child to get them to describe their new planet. Questions: How did you find it? Is it a gas or rock planet? How many moons does it have? How far from the Sun is it? Is there life on your planet? What will you name it? The children used the playdough to make their planets and his moons.

Afternoon Centers:Center 1- My Little Journal- The children will go to the star page and practice making stars on the paper. We made stars on the wipe off board in during lessons. They children will connect the stars with a line to form a constellation. Turn the shape into any animal or object desired then name the constellation that they want.

Calendar: Discussed the date in English and Spanish. Carter put the number on the calendar, discussed the pattern and found the day of the week in Spanish. He helped us review our Spanish, Sign language, sight words and numbers.

Fun Facts/Brainstorming: Reviewed what the children learned about Space food. Discussed: What do you know about rocket ships? Fun facts: The space shuttle was the first piece of space exploration technology that was reusable. Although over 600 astronauts have flown to outer space on the space shuttle, only about seven can fly at one time. The longest orbit of the space shuttle lasted 17 1/2 days. The space shuttle takes off like a rocket yet lands like a plane. The fuel for the space shuttle is mostly made of oxygen and hydrogen. Most space shuttle launches occurred during the day time. The first space shuttle test flight took place in 1981. The space shuttle completed 135 missions. There have been 5 space shuttles which were named Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery and Atlantis. All space shuttles launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Language and Literacy: Discussed: Where do you think a rocket ship can land? When rocket ships land on Earth, they land on wheels much like airplanes. Invited children to explore jumping from one spot and trying to land in a different spot. I had the letters Z, S and R around the room. The children flew to a letter that I named. They said the sound and one word that begins with that letter. We then used these letters to fill in the Word Puzzle: ( _un; _ip; fa_; a_k) We used those Word puzzles to change the blank letter and make new words real and fake.

Language and Literacy: Discussed: How do you think an astronaut gets ready for a rocket launch? We discussed what Bi-lingual means! We then discussed the two languages in the book, English and Spanish. We read the book in English and Spanish. We looked at all the books that they made and discussed.

Mathematics and Reasoning: Discussed: What designs would you put on a rocket ship? Invited children to explore books for photos of rocket ships. Explained that when a country sends a rocket ship into space, it puts its country name and flag on the ship. We looked at the Rocket Ships they made in afternoon centers yesterday.

Mathematics and Reasoning: Discussed: If you could fly in a rocket ship where would you go and what would you want to see? Turn off the lights and we shined the flashlight through different materials and discussed what we saw on the ceiling. I then used the Constellation patterns and I shined the light through them and we saw the stars on the ceiling and discussed the pattern we saw. We saw the Big Dipper and Orion and several other constellations.

Calendar: Discussed the date in English and Spanish. Carter wasn’t here today so Will did calendar today for him. He added the number to the calendar, discussed the pattern, and found the day of the week in Spanish. We reviewed our Sight words, Spanish, Sign Language and numbers in English and Spanish.

Fun Facts/Brainstorming: Reviewed what the kids learned about Gravity. The children told me what they know about Space Food. Discussed: What do you think astronauts eat in space? Fun facts: The first meals eaten in space were soft, gloopy foods a lot like baby food, packed in tubes like toothpaste. The astronaut squeezed these meals into their mouths! The first meal an American astronaut ate was apple-sauce. The first Russian astronauts, or cosmonauts as they are known, ate tubes of Borscht, which is a type of Russian vegetable soup. This early space food was not very good to eat, and astronauts didn’t really enjoy it. An American astronaut called Gus Grissom got into trouble after eating a corned beef sandwich that had been smuggled onto the Gemini 3 space craft. The main problem with eating and drinking in space is that there is no gravity. If you let go of a piece of food in a space craft, it will drift around, not fall to the floor. Water won’t stay in a cup, it will float out and hang in the air. Food crumbs and drops of water could float around the spacecraft, make a mess or even damage the space craft itself.

Color Review: I named a color and the children told me a food that could be that color.

Physical Development: Discussed: What might happen to a bowl of fruit in space? Explained that most space food is stored in tubes or special bags to keep the contents from floating away. WE had some fruit and discussed the different fruits. We also discussed how could we eat them out of a bag if we were up in space. Discussed how it would be easier if we had them in smoothy form in a bag. So we put them in a blender added juice and made a smoothy. I put the smoothy into a baggy for each child and cut a small hole in corner of baggy and the children had to suck the smoothy out of the bag.

Language and Literacy: Discussed: Who would you write to from outer space? Astronauts can send email and make phone calls from outer space. Invited children to look through the book about space or other topics to find pictures they would want to draw. Looked at the Postcards the children will be making in afternoon centers.

Social Studies: Discussed: What is your favorite story to tell? We looked at the story sequence cards and discussed the picture on each card. The children then put them in the correct order of how they happened.

Mathematics and Reasoning: Discussed: What types of foods do astronauts eat in space? Space food is usually dried so it doesn’t spoil and can survive the journey. Some common dried space foods include fruits, vegetables, powdered drinks, and even ice cream. Astronauts add water to the food when they are ready to eat. We had a variety of snack items in one baggy. We sorted the items on 3 plates according to color. We then counted each plate to see how many of that color were on a plate. We discussed how we could divided the amount on each plate among 7 kids so that each child could have equal amounts of snack. We also discussed what would be left over so Ms. Kim could eat them. We then Sampled some real space food. We got space food from Fry’s Electronics. We had peaches, strawberries, ice cream sandwich, cinnamon apple slices and banana’s. The children told me which of these were their favorites. The strawberries were very sour. They all loved the ice cream sandwich. Discussed how light and dry everything was.

Afternoon Centers:Center 1- Post card- The children drew a picture of something she saw or a food she ate while traveling to space this month. They then wrote about their picture. Center 2- Bilingual Book- the children put the book together in order and added the correct pictures to the page. We will read the book tomorrow during lessons.Center 3- Rocket Ship Twirler-The children drew on their rocket ship pieces and then taped them to the yarn.

Calendar: Discussed the date in English and Spanish.Carter was sick today so we worked together to do the calendar. We reviewed the pattern and found the day of the week in Spanish. We reviewed our sight words, Spanish, Sign language and numbers.

Fun Facts/Brainstorming: Reviewed what the children learned about astronauts. Today the children told me what they know about Gravity. Discussed: How can you jump and stay in the air? Invited the children to experiment and try different ways to jump high and stay in the air. Fun facts: Objects with mass are attracted to each other, this is known as gravity. Gravity keeps Earth and the other planets in our solar system in orbit around the Sun. It also keeps the Moon in orbit around Earth. Tides are caused by the rotation of the Earth and the gravitational effects of the Moon and Sun. Because Mars has a lower gravity than Earth, a person weighing 200 pounds on Earth would only weigh 76 pounds on Mars.

Mathematics and Reasoning: Discussed: What happens to a balloon if you let go of the string? Invited children to toss light items in the air and try to catch and pull them down. They tossed feathers, paper, pom poms. Explained that in space an astronaut could float away like a balloon. The children worked together to put the puzzle pieces together. We then discussed the picture that it made. The children will make the game cube in afternoon centers, we rolled the cube and told the planet it landed on. We then discussed how they would move on that planet.

Creative Development: Discussed: What do you think it would be like to walk on the Moon? Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. Invited children to walk from one side of the room to the other side as slowly as possible without stopping their movement. Explained that the reduced gravity of the Moon and the limitations of a space suit result in a slow-motion type of movement.

Mathematics and Reasoning: Discussed: How could you run if you were floating in space? Invited children to lie on their backs and explore moving their legs in different ways and speeds in the air. I placed the Zz, Ss, and Rr around the room on the floor. The children floated to the letter of their choice. I went around the room and the child told me what letter they were standing by, if it was capital or lowercase and what sound it made. They then practiced writing the letter in the air.

Science:Discussed: What happens if you drop something light? Something heavy? Show and Tell: The children all brought a light or heavy object. We used those objects to compare and discussed the light and heavy ones. We also experimented with them on which one would fall to the ground first if we dropped them.

Afternoon Centers:Center 1- Game Cube- The children colored and assembled the game cube.

Calendar: Discussed the date in English and Spanish. Carter put the number on the calendar, discussed the pattern and found the day of the week in Spanish. Carter helped us read our Sight words, Spanish, Numbers and Sign language.

Fun Facts/Brainstorming: Reviewed what the kids learned about the Galaxy. The children told me what they know about astronauts. Discussed: What would you do if you were an astronaut? Fun facts: An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a spaceflight program to lead, pilot or be a crew member of an expedition to space on a spacecraft. The term “astronaut” is derived from the Greek words astron, meaning “star”, and nautes, meaning “sailor”. 12 men have walked on the moon, two from each of the six different Apollo missions including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

Language and Literacy: Discussed: Why do think an astronaut wears a helmet? We looked at the Parts of the Spacesuit photo and discussed. Explained that the astronaut must wear his helmet to breathe. There is no oxygen in space. The children will make astronaut puppets in afternoon centers.

Social Studies: Discussed: What animal or pet would you like to take into space? Explained that the first animal to orbit Earth was a dog from Russia named Laika. Invited children to explore ways to dress up a stuffed animal so that it is ready for outer space. We used a stuffed bunny to put on a paper bag and cut out a hole for the arms and head. We then wrapped the bag in foil and put a clear bowl on the bunnies head. We had the bunny blast off to space! The kids loved watching it fly into the air.

Language and Literacy : Discussed: Why do you think astronauts wear space suits? Space suits protect astronauts from the extreme hot and cold temperatures in outer space. Set out items with zippers and invited children to explore how the zippers work. We discussed the letter that “Zipper” starts with. The children took turns zipping the items. We then read through the dictionary to find Z words and noticed that there were not that many “z” words. We practiced writing our Capital and Lowercase Z on the wipe-off board.

Physical Development:Discussed: Why do you think it is important for astronauts to exercise? The children went around the room lifting something heavy and something light. Which items are too heavy and which are too light? Explained that the lack of gravity leads to bone and muscle loss in outer space. Astronauts exercise at least once a day to keep their bodies strong. We then did some Astronaut Fitness. The children did 6 different exercises. Examples; 20 jumping jacks, picked up a toy and lifted it above the head going up and down 7 times, stood on their head, 10 squats, 17 steps backwards, laid on bellies lifting arms and legs up and down 9 times.

Show and Tell:The calendar told the children to bring in 2 items but it was supposed to say bring in an item that begins with the letter “Z”. The children came up one at a time to count out their items and then change the beginning letter of the item to a Z and make it a Z word. This was silly! Example, bird was “Zird”!

Afternoon Centers:Center 1- Astronaut Puppet-The children made a face to put on the bag and covered it with cellophane to make the helmet. They then colored and cut out the accessories to add to the bag. Center 2- My Little Journal-They went to the Z page. The children practiced writing the capital and lowercase Z. They then drew a sleeping astronaut and had zzzz’s written on the page.

Calendar: Discussed the date in English and Spanish. Carter is the new calendar and meteorologist for this week. He found the numbers for the calendar and added them. He then told us the pattern and found the day of the week in Spanish. Carter helped us review our sight words, Spanish, Sign language and numbers.

Fun Facts/Brainstorming: Reviewed what the children learned about Saturn. Discussed: What could you find in a galaxy? The Milky Way is made up of more than a hundred billion stars and includes the planets and the Sun. Fun facts: A galaxy is a massive group of stars, star clusters, interstellar gas and dust, and dark matter which is all gravitationally bound together. There are potentially more than 170 billion galaxies in the observable universe. Dwarf galaxies are very small with about 10 million stars.

Creative Development:Discussed: Do you think there is milk in the Milky Way? Explained that when you look at the Milky Way from Earth, billions of close-together stars form a white milky glow. Invited children to spread the foam stars on the floor and explore creating their own galaxy with them. Looked at the Glitter Galaxy they will be making in afternoon centers.

Science:Discussed: What colors do you think you could see in a galaxy? Many colors can be seen in a galaxy. This has to do with the temperature of its stars. Younger, hotter stars give off a blue color, while older, cooler stars give off red. We made Galaxy Goo out of Liquid starch.

Mathematics and Reasoning : Discussed: What would you want to see in the Milky Way? Invited children to take the spinner on a walk around the room to search for matching shapes in our environment. Played the Game, “Space Race.” Each child took turns spinning the spinner and moving a game piece (moon rock) to the next matching shape on the path. When the child arrived at the Moon first they pretended to ride in a rocket ship and fly around the room. We reviewed our number 17. We counted items to 17 in English and Spanish. We practiced writing the number 17 and looked at our Journals.

Language and Literacy:Discussed: What would be difficult about jumping in space? We had pillows around the room and had the children pretend they are moons in the galaxy and they could jump over them. We read the Rhyme Time poster emphasizing “Moon” and “spoon”. We then re-read the rhyme and invited children to finish it by shouting out, “Spoon!” We inserted the name of a child in place of “The cow” and invited that child to jump over a pillow. We did this until each child had a turn to jump over the “Moon.”

Afternoon Centers:Center 1- Glitter Galaxy Designs- The children will mix paint with glue. They will then paint the paper with the glue/paint mixture and sprinkle glitter on it to make the galaxy. Center 2- My Little Journal- The children went to the page with 17 on it. They then practiced writing the number 17. They made 17 paint prints on the page and colored the background black or blue to make the galaxy.

Calendar: Discussed the date in English and Spanish. Maggie put the number on the calendar, discussed the pattern and found the day of the week in Spanish. She reviewed our Sign language, Spanish, sight words and numbers in English and Spanish.

Fun Facts/Brainstorming: Reviewed what the children learned about Neptune. Discussed: What do you see when you look at Saturn? Fun facts: Saturn is the second largest planet in our solar system and is another gas giant. Saturn has a small rocky core covered with liquid gas. It is surrounded by a system of rings that stretch out into space for thousands of kilometers. The rings are made up of millions of ice crystals, some as big as houses and others as small as specks of dust. Saturn is very light as it is made up of more hydrogen than helium so it is less dense. If we could fit Saturn into a bathtub it would float. It has many moons that surround it like Jupiter. Saturn is not a peaceful planet. Storm winds race around the atmosphere at 800 kmp/h. Saturn is a very strong magnetic field which traps energy particles resulting in high levels of radiation.

Mathematics and Reasoning: Discussed: How do you think Saturn moves? Explained that Saturn spins so fast that its middle is actually flat. Invited children to explore spinning the balls or other objects in the room. Which can spin the fastest? The children took turns and followed my directions on spinning the balls really fast or really slow. We counted how many times they could spin it.

Creative Development: Discussed: How are Saturn’s rings different from other planets’ rings? Saturn has several hundred rings that give the appearance of one very wide ring. Gave each child a ribbon and invited them to explore different ways to move it. Looked at the Saturn wands they will be making in afternoon centers.

Creative Development: Discussed: Why would you want to travel to Saturn? We looked at the Little Theatre Script. We read and acted the story out. The children answered questions to check for comprehension.

Language and Literacy:Discussed: What sounds do you hear in the word “Saturn?” Set out the Hands-On Letters and invited children to pass them around and trace them with a finger. We called out verbs (slide, jump, stomp, twirl). We had the children wait for the word that begins with the sound /s/ and then do that movement. Examples, squat, skip, stop, step, stand, swing, etc. If the word does not begin with /s/, children do not move.

Calendar: Discussed the date in English and Spanish. Maggie put the number on the calendar, discussed the pattern and found the day of the week in Spanish. She reviewed all our numbers, sight words, Spanish, and Sign language.

Fun Facts/Brainstorming: Reviewed what the children learned about Uranus. Today the children told me what they know about Neptune. Discussed: What colors do you see on Neptune? Fun facts: Neptune is a large planet, nearly four times the size of Earth. It suffers the most violent weather in our Solar System. Storms have been spotted swirling around its surface and freezing winds that blow about ten times faster than hurricanes on Earth make it the windiest planet. Neptune is a large, water planet with a blue hydrogen-methane atmosphere and faint rings. It is covered in thin wispy white clouds which stretch out around the planet.

Creative Development:Discussed: What do you think the weather is like on Neptune? Invited children to work with a partner to move a ball around in a box top. How do they cooperate and explore the ball’s movement? Explained that Neptune has large swirling storms in its atmosphere. The children worked with a partner to swirl a ball very fast on a lid and make it a stormy Neptune. Looked at the craft they will be doing in afternoon centers.

Mathematics and Reasoning :Discussed: What do you think is inside a planet’s rings? Invited children to wad up paper into balls and explore tossing them as far as they can. Explained that Neptune has 6 rings, just like the other gas planets. The rings are made of ice and rocks. Sometimes, ice chunks break off and get drawn towards the Sun. They are known as comets.

Social Studies: Discussed: What is your favorite planet so far? Why? Set out the planet cutouts all around the room and invited children to travel from one to the other. We asked the Would You Rather questions and the children placed the foam shape on the one they would rather do and we discussed more and less on the graph. Example of question: “Would you rather walk on Earth or the Moon?”

Language and Literacy:Discussed: Why do you think Neptune is blue? Invited children to explore the room and find different shades of blue. Explained that one of the gases on Neptune (methane) absorbs red light from the Sun and reflects blue light back out.

Afternoon Centers:Center 1- Swirling Neptune- The children used bouncy balls to roll around on the paper in paint to watch the paint swirl together. They cut that into a circle like Neptune and glued it onto the background paper. They added 14 stickers around Neptune to represent the moons.

Calendar: Discussed the date in English and Spanish. Maggie put the number on the calendar, discussed the pattern and found the day of the week in Spanish. We reviewed our Spanish, Sign Language, Sight words and numbers.

Fun Facts/Brainstorming: Reviewed what the children learned about St. Patrick’s day. Discussed: How long do you think it would take to fly to Uranus? We had 3 bowls of ice cubes and the children estimated how many they thought were in each bowl. Each child took turns counting out ice cubes until we got to the number 27. There are 27 icy moons of Uranus. Fun facts: Uranus spins lying on its side (like a barrel), this is perhaps due to a large collision early in its formation. This was the first planet discovered by telescope. Since Uranus takes 84 Earth years to go around the sun, this means that each of its poles is in daylight for 42 years and in darkness for the next 42 years. It’s atmosphere is mostly hydrogen but it also contains large amounts of a gas called methane. Methane absorbs red light and scatters blue light so a blue-green methane haze hides the interior of the planet from view.Uranus hides its interior but scientists guess that under the hydrogen-methane atmosphere is a hot, slushy ocean of water, ammonia and methane thousands of miles deep wrapped around a rocky core.

Social and Emotional Development: Discussed: Why do you think scientists have not visited Uranus? Even in a very fast rocket ship, it would take many years to reach Uranus. Voyager 2 spacecraft took almost 9 and a half years to reach Uranus. Invited children to sit as still as they could until I said “Move.” Observed what they did as they waited patiently. Explained that patience means waiting ( sometimes for a long time) without getting angry or upset. Invited children to hang the patient feather on the Circle Time Display. I had the children pretend to walk to Uranus and they had to move very slowly and whoever was the slowest to get to Uranus would win.

Mathematics and Reasoning: Discussed: How can you find Uranus in the solar system? Taped out 8 parallel lines on the floor and invited children to explore jumping or hopping from one line to the next. Explained that Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Practiced writing the number 7.

Language and Literacy: Discussed: What would happen if you traveled to Uranus? Uranus is a ball of ice and gas, so it doesn’t really have a surface. If you tried to land on Uranus, you would sink down through the gases and into the icy, liquid center. We re-read the story, “Up In Space!” and reviewed the planets.

Science:Discussed: What do you think a planet looks like as it moves around the Sun? Invited children to experiment rolling and spinning balls. Which is easier? Explained that Uranus spins on a tilted axis. Astronomers think that a large object smashed into it billions of years ago. This collision set the planet tumbling eventually settling into its tilt. I spun a ball and had the children throw something at it to watch what happened.

Afternoon Centers:Center 1- My Little Journal-The children went to the 7 page and made 9 paint prints on the page to represent the planets. They then labeled the 7th planet Uranus and practiced writing the number 7.